How to Choose the Best Encrypted Messaging App

The public didn’t always have to be so diligent about keeping their data secure. However, as long as tech companies, government entities, and cybercriminals want access to your data, it is more important than ever to be vigilant. Although developers have created end-to-end encryption to protect data from imposters or malicious actors, not every encrypted messaging app offers end-to-end encryption, and even the inclusion of end-to-end encryption doesn’t mean consumer’s personal information isn’t potentially vulnerable in other ways.

Whether or not an individual is sharing highly sensitive information, everyone deserves the same data privacy to prevent seemingly innocuous messages from being monetized by others. When considering the best encrypted messaging app, your security should be a top priority. That security can be safeguarded in the following five ways.

1. Default Encryption

With end-to-end encryption, messages are encrypted on the sender’s device and then decrypted on the recipient’s device, protecting private messages from being read by third parties. However, many messaging services undermine the benefits of the end-to-end encryption of message content by not making end-to-end encryption the default setting.

You should, therefore, choose a messaging service that offers end-to-end encryption as the default, like Wickr, so that you can be sure you’re using the most secure communication channel available on a mobile device. If you’re not using end-to-end encryption on your phone, you may be at risk as hackers can access plain text messages as well as IP addresses and metadata.

2. No User Data Collection

End-to-end encryption ensures that only the sender and recipient can access a message since the service provider won’t have access to those messages. However, apps store other information when users create accounts, such as email addresses, phone numbers, and other personal metadata.

That said, there should be no data stored by an app company. Although, if companies do request user data, all metadata should be encrypted and personal information hashed. Also, there should be no logging of timestamps and IP addresses.

Companies like Wickr do not collect data, including user data. This app doesn’t even require a phone number or email address to register an account, nor does it store communication metadata. In fact, the app’s “Shredder” feature irreversibly deletes all chats and media content from your device, unless you prefer to use the “Expiration Timer” to delete content at a later date.

According to Wickr, “we do not know anything about you or what you do with Wickr.”

This means the app does not:

Upload your contact book

Sell your personal information

Store your IP address or UDID

Own the messaged and media you send—only the recipient and sender own the content.

3. Content Deletion

Since end-to-end encryption replies on device security, losing a phone also compromises the phone content. This is why it’s essential for a messaging app to provide an expiration timer to ensure older messages are deleted automatically. You should use a messaging service like Wickr that orders messages, photos, videos, and voice memos to self-destruct after a user has received them.

4. Open Source Code

Encryption apps that are open source allow other experts to inspect their code for flaws. Wickr famously established a $100,000 bug-bounty program for anyone who could find security flaws in their open-source code. This helps the brand keep its encryption technology robust and up-to-date.

Wickr’s policies and messaging protocols, utilizing multiple layers of encryption, have also been vetted by respected security teams in the industry, which has helped Wickr build the most trusted communication platform in the world. Wickr’s source code is documented here.

5. Prioritizing Data Privacy

An app service is only as private as the app provider chooses it to be, which is why companies that prioritize user privacy, like Wickr, offer the most secure messaging apps on the market. There can be no sharing data with intelligence agencies when a messaging app has no user data to share.

Data Privacy is Wickr’s Top Priority

Because data privacy is so crucial to Wickr, it even sends a notification to alert the recipient or sender if the other user takes a screenshot of the chat. Wickr believes users should know everything that’s being stored, even if that storage is just temporary.

With its commitment to data security, Wickr publishes quarterly transparency reports and also hires penetration testers to look for vulnerabilities.

All this means that Wickr remains one of the best encrypted messaging apps available for free and the safest way to send free private, self-destructing messages, photos, videos, and voice messages.

With a development team committed to data privacy, Wickr is always finding ways to improve its encryption technology to protect user privacy through innovation. Stay protected with Wickr. Download Wickr today!